ILLUSIONS IN GRAY

I would like to share with you a piece of poetry I wrote a while ago and had the privilege of reading it during a poetry jam here in Paducah a couple of years ago. I ran across it while going thru some of my notebooks . I hope you will enjoy.
ILLUSIONS IN GRAY
A simple life, yet woven thread by thread
Blending into the tapestry of life's illusions
Each experience colored by shades of gray
Distinguished by one's own perceptions
Judgements, yea right, wrong, good, evil
Truths, still unknown, concealed like nuggets
Buried, awaiting one's precipitant discovery

The light ceases to shine, but doth it really?
No wait, there, it cascades it's beacon outward
Twas only obscured potential, masked by clouds of darkness
Which contain doubts, fears, and a restless unknowingness

Light shines thru, where doth the darkness burrow?
Thru the mist of gray, it's rays burst forth
With many a sliver of radiant beauty
Distant, afar at first glance, tho it be

It caresses tenderly those colors of gray
Transforming the hues to reds, yellows
Blues, greens, all color that lies between

I see a tint of green, you say blue
But whose dream is this, mine or yours?
I say mine, so green it must be

It makes no difference that I can discern
For all the shades, the tints, the ambiguous hues
From the One Source they all did arrive

So make your dream one colored in blue, that's alright
This One Source I speak of, make it your heart's delight
For that's all you really have, whether you may believe it or not!

This Source, this Light, it possesses no judgements
It awaits your call, tis your humble servant
It has only to offer an unconditional love
It serves each of us equally, there are no favorites
If I want red it pours down red!
If you choose yellow then yellow it tis

I speak of colors, tho not the only illusion
Each path chosen to be trod upon by one
I imagine, twill be filled with many a winding turn
Taking one here, one there, one everywhere

What is it you choose? Where would you love to go?
What is it you would love to have manifest?
Tis all up to you, I hope you can plainly see

What color journey does your soul desire?
Which illusions to disrobe, which to retain?

Whichever the road, what ere the dreams
Walk proud each step, know you're never alone
Remember the Light, that one source of all
It dwells within you, awaiting your beck and call

Try heeding its tranquil summons to love
Enjoy your illusions, your colors, your dreams
Allow others theirs, no matter how they seem
Take freely from Life, but be quick to share

Be the color you choose, and do it with passion
For after the grandest illusion you've shattered
The soul is allowed to return to Its Source
Then you will know, you're at long last home
Where all is One, and One is All
Go swiftly my friend and I'll meet you there

THE MIND OF GOD

From the writings of Kathy Hearn I share the following: "All of us are invisibly rooted in the Mind of God. We find assurance when we recognize that Life that has no problems-The Mind of God within us already knows the solution. That knowing can only communicate through us. It speaks to us in the form of our intuition, which is nothing less than God in man waiting to be recognized. Everything we really need to know is always available. Our challenge is to become open and receptive tothe information."

ANOTHER ENDING FOR THE STORY OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN

So the woman saw that the tree was good to eat from and a delight to the eye, and the serpent said to her,"Eat of it, for when you eat of it, you will be as wise as God." But the woman said,"No, God has commanded us not to eat of it, and I will not disobey God." And God called to the man and the woman and said to them, "Because you have hearkened to My word and not disobeyed My command, I shall reward you greatly." To the man he said, "You will never have to work again. Spend all of your days in idle contentment, with food growing all around you." To the woman he said, "You will bear children without pain and you will raise them without pain. They will need nothing from you. Children will not cry when their parents die,and parents will not cry when their children die." To both of them he said,"For the rest of your lives you will have full bellies and contented smiles. You will never cry and you will never laugh. You will never long for somethingyou don't have, and you will never receive something you always wanted." And the man and the woman grew old together inthe Garden, eating daily from the tree of life and having many children. And the grass grew high around the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil until it disappeared from view, for there was no one to tend it.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

I have always questioned the Bible's version of the beginning of humankind because it sounded a little more like a fairy tale or myth than actual truth.The bibles version just left me with so many questions and didnot make a lot of sense to me. The other day I read in my friend Euresso's blog the following story and thought I'd share it with now of course with the permission of Euresso who was kind enough to allow me to copy from his blog. In Euresso's words this is not intended to tear apart the biblical version but just to take a different look because the old interpretation leads to too much guilt and an unreasonable quest for perfection. The following is from a book by Harold Kushner titled How Good Do We Have To Be?
"Isn't this a harsh punishment for one small mistake? Pain and death, banishment from Paradise, for breaking one rule? Is God really that strict? And perhaps the most troubling of all, If the forbidden tree was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, does that imply that Adam and his mate had no knowledge of good and evil before they ate of it? If so, how could they have been expected to know that it was wrong to disobey God? And why were they punished if they had no sense of good and evil before they ate it?" How Good Do We Have To Be chapter 2

Rabbi Kushner reinterprets the Genesis story of not one of guilt, sin, and punishment, but instead a story describing our journey of evolution out of our animal life.
"It is the story of the first human being graduating, evolving from the relatively uncomplicated world of animal life to the immensely complicated world of being human and knowing that there is more to life than eating and mating, that there are such things as Good and Evil. They enter a world where they will inevitably make many mistakes, not because they are weak or bad but because the choices they confront will be such difficult ones"......."The story of the Garden of Eden is not a story of the Fall of Man but the emergence of Humankind"

Later I will follow this up with How the story of the Garden of Eden may have ended as told by Mr Kushner.
I sincerely hope that each of you will have a weekend filled with much love joy and inner peace!

OUR INVISIBLE SOURCE

As I've stated before I believe that within each of us lies that Invisible Source which I prefer to call Spirit that remains at our center being always calm and always ready to assist us in our daily travels on planet earth. This source is like a light that clears away the 'darkness" of life's misunderstandings, fears and doubts. I would now like to share a paragraph on this subject from the writings of Kathy Hearn who is Community Spiritual Leader for the United Centers for Spiritual Living. Ms. Hearn states: "Perhaps the greatest expression of the principal of divine guidance comes to us through our internal vibration. When our actions are grounded in God, in love, and when we make our lives constructive in such a way as to harm no one but to bless all, we move forward in a state of peace and calm; security develops, and we are aware that we have tapped our invisible Source. There is no limit to the power.

I AM ONE WITH GOD

From the Science of Mind magazine I found the following affirmations that I'd like to share with you now.The first one is titled From Within--I am conscious of the Divine Presence that is within me, the Source and substance of all my good. This good is always flowing to me and through me. I allow this presence to be fully activated as my life now. I live from the inside out.
2.I AM ONE -The fullness of Spirit is activated within me now. I express the life energy of peace, joy, and beauty. Every aspect of my life reveals the magnificence of God in all that I say and do. I am one with God.
3. THE LIGHT OF GOD-I stand in the light of pure Spirit. I stand as the light of pure Spirit. I know that I am guided by this light in all that I do. Open and receptive to this light, I allow it to shine as me. I am the light of God.
4.I RECEIVE MY GOOD- I am one with God. I recognize my oneness with all there is and see the beauty of God everywhere I look. I receive the good of God in all that I do. I let go, and I let God be God as me. All is well.

THE MASTER

I would like to share with you all the following prologue of Richard Bach's book called ILLUSIONS. Take from it what you will and I sincerely hope you find it thought provoking.

1.There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Ft. Wayne.
2.The Master learned of this world in the public schools of Indiana, and as he grew, in his trade as a mechanic of automobiles.
3.But the Master had learnings from other hands and other schools, from other lives that he had lived. He remembered these and remembering became wise and strong, so that others saw his strength and came to him for council.
4.The Master believed that he had power to help himself and all mankind, and as he believed so it was for him, so that others saw his power and came to him to be healed of their troubles and their many diseases.
5.The Master believed that it is well for any man to think upon himself as a son of God, and as he believed, so it was, and the shops and garages where he worked became crowded and jammed with those who sought his learning and his touch; and the streets outside with those who longed only that the shadow of his passing might fall upon them, and change their lives.
6.It came to pass, because of the crowds, that the several foremen and shop managers bid the Master to leave his tools and go his way, for so tightly was he thronged that neither he nor other mechanics had room to work upon the automobiles.
7.So it wasthat he went into the countryside, and people following began to call him Messiah, and worker of miracles; and as they believed, it was so.
8.If a storm passed as he spoke, not a raindrop touched a listener's head; the last of the multitude heard his words as clearly as the first, no matter lightning nor thunder in the sky about. And always he spoke to them in parables.
9.And he said unto them,"Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and to sickness, to riches and to poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another."
10.A mill man spoke and said,"Easy words for you Master, for you are guided as we are not, and need not toil as we toil. A man has to work for his living in this world."
11.The Master answered and said,"Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.
12."The current of the river swept silently over them all- young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.
13. "Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.
14. "But one creature said at last,"I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes. I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom."
15. The other creatures laughed and said "Fool1 Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!"
16."But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.
17."Yet in time, as the creature fefused to cliing again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.
18. "And the cretures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried,"See,a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!"
19."And the one carried in the current said, "I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure."
20."But they cried the more, Saviour! all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour."
21.And it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him the more day by day, tighter and closer and fiercer than ever they had, when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live their lives, he went alone that day unto a hilltop apart, and there he prayed.
22.And he said in his heart,Infinite Radiant Is, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me, let me lay aside this impossible task. I cannot live the life of one other soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for life. I'm sorry I allowed it all to happen. If it be thy will , let me go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men.
23.And a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor female, lopud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind. And the voice said unto him,"Not my will, but thine be done.For what is thy will is mine for thee. Go thy way as other men, and be thou happy on the earth."
24.And hearing, the Master was glad, and gave thanks and came down from the hilltop humming a little mechanic's song. And when the throng pressed him with its woes, beseeching him to heal for it and learn for it and feed it nonstop from his understanding and to entertain it with his wonders, he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto them,"I quit."
25.For a moment the multitude was stricken dumb with astonishment.
26.And he said unto them,"If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter what the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is told?"
27."Of course Master!" cried the many."It shuld be a pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!"
28."No matter what the tortures, nor how difficult the task?"
29."Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that God has asked," said they.
30."And what would you do," the Master said unto the multitude, "if god spoke directly to your face and said, "I command that you be happy in the world. As long as you live" what would you do then?"
31.And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.
32.And the Master said unto the silence, "In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please."
33.And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines.

Richard Bach----Illusions The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah